GREAT MUSIC never goes away. Sometimes it only hibernates and waits for the right moment to reappear. That time is now.

Enter “Dreamboy” – a five member R&B band from Detroit that was originally signed by Quincy Jones back in the 80s as Prince was on the rise. They had a great Funk sound and toured the country for over two years before disbanding in 1985. Since then their individual talent has flourished, and their creativity has expanded with time and experience. Now re-booted, Dreamboy is ready to serve up a fabulous buffet of music to get people excited again.

Dreamboy’s original members include lead vocalist Jeff Stanton; bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist Paul Stewart; guitarist Jeff Bass; keyboardist Jimi Hunt; drummer George “Dewey” Twymon. Their ballad, “Don’t Go,” hit #17 on Billboard’s R&B chart in 1984. Another ballad, “I Promise (I Do Love You),” made it to #45 that same year. And decades later, guitarist Jeff Bass would become the co-writer of Eminem’s hit song, “Lose Yourself” from the movie “8 Mile.”

Dreamboy released two albums – “Dreamboy”, a 6-song inaugural work, and “Contact”, a 9-song follow- up work. The songs were performed on tour across the country for over two years. Now in 2018, those songs are being brought back, and brand new music has been recorded for their comeback tour.

Dreamboy had its genesis in 1979 in the basement of Jeff Stanton’s home in Detroit while he was still in high school. It was a “laboratory” of music with future Motown stars like El and Marty DeBarge, future Beyonce MD Kern Brantley, future Eminem producer Jeff Bass, and future star Fred Hammond hanging out to jam and make music. It was an exciting place.

After high school, Jeff studied music at the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston. Upon returning to Detroit in 1982, he recruited four fellow musicians, and the group “Dreamboy” was formed. The combination of rich vocals, great melodies, and lively musical arrangements brought widespread popularity to the group right from the start.

Dreamboy played early gigs at places like Oak Park High School, The Northwest Activities Center, Hart Plaza, and various local talent shows. Their music quickly caught on, and soon they began landing gigs at more prestigious venues like The Roostertail, The State Theatre and The Capitol Theatre in Flint. As their popularity grew, they decided to write and produce an EP.

One song from that EP, “Don’t Go,” caught the ear of The Electrifying Mojo, a popular disk jockey on WGPR Radio, who began playing the song on his show,

“Lovers Lane.” That lit the spark and Dreamboy’s popularity soared throughout the Detroit area. But their big break came in 1983 when the Head of Promotions for producer Quincy Jones heard the song while meeting with Mojo in Detroit and took it to Quincy’s Qwest / Warner Brothers record label for a listen.

At the time, Prince was shaking up the music industry with his eclectic brand of Pop, Funk and Rock and his falsetto vocals. Qwest Records was looking for a group to emulate that sound but one that would appeal to a younger teen demographic – specifically, females. They found it in Dreamboy and signed the group immediately.

Under the Qwest label, Dreamboy began touring the country, visiting cities like Los Angeles, Oakland, Houston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Richmond. While touring, they also began writing and recording songs for the release of their first album, the self-titled “Dreamboy,” which featured a combination of dance songs and love songs.

From 1982-83, Dreamboy opened for acts like New Edition, The S.O.S. Band, Billy Ocean and Rick James, and performed for crowds as large as 15,000 people.

A “Special Moment” came when Quincy Jones met up with the band in Los Angeles at the birthday party of Qwest Records president, Ed Eckstein, not long after being signed. Q was very pleased with his new group.

In total, their albums, “Dreamboy” and “Contact,” logged over 200,000 sales. They also released a number of singles and an extended play dance mix LP that was a popular choice of deejays at 80s dance nightclubs.

Dreamboy also appeared on three television shows – nationally syndicated “Soul Train” and locally produced “The Scene” and “Stars of Tomorrow.” Here’s the dynamic video of one of those performances:

Dreamboy on “Stars of Tomorrow” TV Dance Show

Though the band disbanded in 1985, their impact on the national music scene was significant, and they built a considerable fan following that remembers them to this day. Now re-booted and re-energized, Dreamboy is back in 2018 to perform all their originals as well as a series of fresh new songs.

Dreamboy is ready to rock the stage once again. Don’t miss them!